Alternate Pain
by ThePoetUnknown
Summary: Edward Elric has rescued his brother from the gate. Now he will set out to help save the world again. Only, this time, the price he pays to do his job may be higher than he expected...
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist. I do not own the characters. The only thing I own is the random plot line I create. If you have an issue, I DO NOT care.

This is going to be an alternative, continued ending to the manga, sort of. If you've read the manga then you will probably be able to work out what's going on and pick it up. If you don't, you _seriously_ need to and I will explain….

Alphonse Elric has joined his soul with his body and is now trapped in gate. Homunculi and his children are all dead (yay!). Edward Elric is fighting with his father, Hohenheim, over how to save Al from the gate. This is where I begin…

"I won't! I can't! I…I…I…" Edward nearly fell apart at Hohenheim's request.

"It's the only way, Ed. Do it. I'm going to die anyway." Hohenheim whispered breathlessly, blood trickling out the corner of his mouth.

"I won't… I won't…" Ed whispered back, his voice hoarse with emotion. He may hate his father with a passion but he would not kill him.

"I have one life left, Edward. Let me do something good with it. Let me try to make up for what I have done, for everything I have done to you and your brother." Hohenheim looked into his sons golden eyes, almost begging him to do it.

For the first time in many years, a tear fell over Edward Elric's bottom eyelid. His father's life and his brother's life both rested in his hands. But how could he choose which life was more important? He looked into the golden eyes of his father, the man who he had hated for as long as he could remember. He stared into the eyes that were so much like his, it was almost unbelievable. Who would he kill? Who would he save? How would he choose?

His father was dying and would meet the gate soon anyway, but could Ed really take his father's life, ending that much earlier. His brother was trapped and the only way that Edward could see to save him was by using his father.

"Ed?" The boy raised his head again at the sound of his father's weakening voice. "Please, let me go back to Trisha."

The looks of desperation and pleading in his father's eyes made up Ed's mind indefinably, if anyone was going to meet his mother in the gate before him, it would be Hohenheim.

"I'm sorry," Ed whispered, looking in his father's eyes. "And thank you, for saving him." He clapped his hands together. "Good-bye, father," and with that, Ed placed his hands over Hohenheim's heart and summoned the gate.

The black doors that let to 'The Truth' rose before the pair. Hohenheim looked into the blank face of "The Truth", smiling slightly promising to remember that his son had called him father.

"You have failed. I give you my life for Alphonse to return to Amsters and live with his brother." Hohenheim smiled at the gate obvious displeasure at losing its hold over the young alchemist knelt beside him.

"Well done, Hohenheim. You have finally done it. You're the first person to beat the gate…" Hohenheim laughed.

"I have not beaten you completely and you know it. You still get my life, you pathetic excuse for 'The Truth'."

Hohenheim felt the life slowly ebb and fade from his chest as Alphonse limped over to the gate's way out, his brother's arm around his waist. He smiled to himself as he looked into both his sons reluctant, tearstained eyes, and nodded, telling his son, wordlessly, to go, to leave, to return to the world in which he belonged.

Hohenheim turned and laughed at the pathetic thing alchemists called "The Truth". He knew he had little time left as he smirked at the beast that was sucking the light from his heart and draining his own personal gate of its energy and returning it to the whole.

After so many years avoiding and dodging death to the extreme, the gate finally latched on to and claimed the almost immortal soul of Hohenheim the Light.

Edward gently laid Alphonse unconscious form against a large, smooth, grey stone as Mustang carefully laid his jacket over Al's naked form. Ed, quite literally, fell on the floor next to his brother, careful not to sit on any pointed shards of rock, completely exhausted from the transmutation. He forced himself into a sitting position and wrapped his arms around his knees, waiting and praying for his little brother to wake up.

He thought about how he had never told his brother how much he loved him; he had always assumed that Al knew. If it were the other way round, he knew he would want to hear it said out loud, just for conformation.

After half an hour in that position with incredibly depressing thoughts chasing each other around his head, Edward Elric had a very bad cramp in his leg muscles. Sighing, he stood up, stretching out his real leg and automail leg. As he rose, and for once, his all-seeing-eyes missed the important twitch of Alphonse Elric's legs. They younger brother was stirring and the older was failing to notice. Roy Mustang, however, did not fail to miss this fact. He was amused that Ed missed it and decided to mess with the midget by not telling him.

Alphonse opened his eyes and blinked several times in the vibrant sun light. He looked up at the black back of his older brother who was stretching off his real arms. Even though he was very hungry, Al decided to have some fun, seeing as Ed hadn't noticed he was wake.

"Hello brother," he shouted. Ed jumped about 3 feet in the air before turning to face his laughing brother.

"Edward, for an observant kid, you miss a lot." Roy smirked as he walked over to his subordinates. "And for a short kid, you jump high."

"DON'T CALL ME LITTLE!" Ed screamed at his senior officer. Suddenly remembering his younger brother, Ed turned towards him. "You okay, Al?" Ed asked, carefully planning to get Mustang back later.

"Yeah, just…"

"Just what Al," Ed asked, his worries seeping into his voice.

"Hungry!" Al shouted loudly.

Ed laughed with his brother. It had been many years since he had heard his brother use that word to describe himself. "Let's get you some food then… and some cloths."

Al smiled and nodded. Ed smiled and turned to Mustang. Revenge was going to be sweet.

Ed clapped and pressed his hands onto Colonel Mustang's new coat. The man, commonly known to Ed as Colonel Bastard, let out a very pissed hiss as his coat was transmuted into a pair of blue pants. Everyone turned away out of courtesy as Alphonse pulled the alchemically made trousers.

As everyone else turned back to make sure Al was okay and to go help the other people injured in the battles, Roy Mustang stormed off to go see what Lieutenant Hawkeye could do about getting him a new coat. He also went off to see if she was okay, although he would never admit to it if asked.


	2. Central Arrival

A/N: I do not and never will own Full Metal Alchemist! If I did, I promise you, Envy would be in every chapter! Please review!

Alphonse sighed, resting his head against the lumpy pillow, the thin, scratchy sheet piled up at the base of the bed and listening to Radio Central consistently blare out the hospital speakers with the widely known, useless information and drab music. In his four years as a suit of armour, he had forgotten just how extremely uncomfortable hospitals could be, and exactly how boring the hospitals themselves could be. He had forgotten what it was like to fell things and comforts, what it was like to hear voices without an echo. Alphonse sighed and relaxed a bit as the sounds echoed around.

The young, handsome and human, Alphonse Elric had been emitted to Central's main hospital yesterday, much to his own and his brother displeasure, by a worried Colonel Mustang and a stern faced Izumi Curtis. They insisted he, recover, rest up and prove he was well enough to travel and, although he disagreed, he knew better than to argue with Teacher. Mustang, however, he would get back, by letting his brother deal with the old Flame Alchemist. Heaven knows what he was planning to do to the Colonel.

Edward Elric, the older and shorter of the two brothers, was in the hall making an frantic call to his automail mechanic, Winry, to come and do an emergency service on his auto mail leg. Al knew Winry would be very, very, pissed at the fact her automail arm had _exploded_ off of Ed and her leg was scratched and not exactly working right. As he pondered to what Winry would do to him, Edward walked in, slightly shaken. He was wringing his hands together and shifting his weight nervously.

"I take it she was mad then," Al smiled at his brother.

"That has to be the understatement of the year," Ed muttered. Al laughed. Ed exploded. "She was furious. I bet that, if she had been able to, she would have hit me with her infamous wrench over the phone," Ed mumbled on.

Al laughed harder, imagining what Winry would do to his brother once she got there. He'd put money on that it was going to leave a mark. Of course, he would try and protect his brother but Winry was an unstoppable force of nature. When she was angry, it was best to hide and hope she'd forget. This plan rarely worked but both Ed and Al agreed it was better than no plan.

Edward walked over to a chair and sat down with a huff, knowing he was screwed when Winry got to Central. He hadn't exactly told her about the arm, just that the leg was broken. Optimistically, he thought that she might not kill him and just be happy that he had got his arm back. He knew not to get to optimistic when Winry was involved.

He stared out the window, looking at the centre of Central. The destruction caused by the fight with the homunculi was slowly being cleared and the city was starting to look more like it should than a bomb site. Soon, all physical evidence of the struggle for dominance would be clear and the only proof that an evil force had tried to rule Amestris would be the memories of those involved. Edward struggled to work out if that was good or bad. As he thought, his stomach growled. Al turned to stare at his brother, who was staring at his stomach.

"Let's go get something to eat," Al suggested, sliding off the seriously uncomfortable hospital bed. Ed heaved himself of the chair and, walking side by side, led his brother to the hospital cafeteria.

XxX Two Days Later XxX

Winry stepped of the train, rubbing the sore spot on her back the hard seat had given her. She hated traveling and she hated Ed for making her come all the way to Central, again. What could he have done this time? She hoped he wasn't in a hospital again, like he often seemed to be when she came.

Winry looked around the station platform, looking for the familiar face that would greet her and take her to find the pain-in-the-ass. As always, Major Armstrong towered over the rest of the world's population. With a sigh, she began pushing her way between bustling people in what she hoped was Armstrong's direction.

When she finally managed to make it over to him, she smiled up at him.

"Miss Winry! How wonderful it is to see you once again!"

"Hello Major Armstrong. Where are the Elric brothers this time?"

"Once again, they have landed themselves in a slight predicament. Please, allow me to escort you to their current location." 

"Are they in the hospital?" Winry asked, resting her hand on her left hip. She watched a bead of sweat appear on Armstrong's brow. He started to fidget under her glare.

"Miss Winry, come along!" Armstrong spoke uncomfortably.

Winry huffed and made a crude gesture for Armstrong to lead the way. The gentle giant let out a sigh in relief, turned and led the Winry out of the station. They left the old stone building that sat in the centre of Central and walked over to the care. The Major held while Winry climbed in and slid across. The driver turned around to face her.

"Hello Winry, have you came to fix the rascals again?" First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye smiled at the girl. Winry couldn't help but crack a smile at the Lieutenant.

"It's the only reason I'm ever in Central." Hawkeye laughed at this, before turning back to the wheel, staring the car engine and driving to the Elric's secret location.

Winry turned to stare out the window, studying the houses that sped by. _What happened? Why did everyone pass out? Are Edward and Alphonse alright?_ These and a million other questions sored through her head as scenery rushed by. She's have put money on Ed and Al being responsible for everyone passing out. But that didn't stop her worry about their wellbeing. When she thought about it, every time Edward had called her out to do a maintenance/repair service, he was in hospital with serious injuries.

She spent the whole journey worrying about what condition she would find the Elric's in. When the car pulled to a stop, she wasn't surprised by the location. They were outside Central hospital. She sighed and clambered out of the car behind Major Armstrong. He moved aside once she was out the car. Winry blinked, letting her eyes adjust to the sunlight.

Stood against one of the pillars at the hospital, was a blonde haired man. His hair was braided and he wore black, skin-tight leather pants with a black vest. Winry would have said it was the very nuisance she had come to see, but 1) she could see the right arm and 2) he was a man, not a mini-boy. It was real. Ed's was automail, not flesh. Cautiously, Winry walked up the stairs. She was about half way up when the man pushed of the pillar and turned to face her. He kept his head bowed as he walked down the stairs. Winey stood still, observing the man as he approached. He stopped a few steps away from her. Slowly he lifted his head. Winry gasped.

There was no mistaking the golden eyes that met hers. Edward Elric stood before her, with his _real_ arm and _not_ his automail arm. His golden hair was braided as it always was; only, now it seemed to make him look older. He wore the same clothes as always, but now they showed more of his muscles. His face seemed different, his features were sharper. He looked more like a man than the boy she had always known. Winry stared at him in shock. _When did he get so grown up?_ She thought.

"Hello Winry. Thanks for coming to Central for me." His voice sounded deeper to Winry. But the smile he flashed softened his face back to the boyish one. She had missed that face.

"Hi Ed, and it's no problem. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your arm?" She pointed to his right arm. Ed shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, you see, it couldn't stay where it was when I got my real arm back, so it, kind of, _exploded_ off." Ed shifted again, waiting for the words to settle in.

"It WHAT," Winry screamed. "YOU LET MY PRESCIOUS AUTOMAIL ARM _EXPLODE_! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU ALCHEMY FREAK!"

"It wasn't on purpose Winry, I promise!" Ed pleaded, trying to get her to understand. He saw Winry reaching for the wrench she kept tucked in the waist of her skirt. "Before you kill me, Winry, I have a surprise for you! You just got to let me live long enough."

Winry stared at the alchemist. He seemed to be telling the truth. She sighed and nodded, removing her hand from the handle of her beloved wrench. Ed let out a sigh of relief. Armstrong and Hawkeye chuckled. Ed turned and walked up the stairs to the hospital. When Winry didn't follow immediately, he turned back to her. He smiled and offered his hand down to her. She looked at it. After a minute she smiled and grabbed it. Ed smiled and pulled her through the hospital, the two soldiers following behind them.

XxXXxX

Ed smiled as Winry shrieked with joy. He smiled as she ran over to the flesh and blood Alphonse and gave him a hug. His brother laughed as Winry sat on the edge of his bed and began firing questions at him. Ed walked over to a chair by the window and sat down. Al and Winry were playing the Question and Answer Game. He smiled as he looked a Winry.

_Had she always looked so grown up? Had she always been that attractive?_ He thought about how much she seemed to have changed in such little time. He thought she looked more mature, smarter and more, much more beautiful. Even he had to admit, though never to her face, Winry had always been pretty, but now, she was more than, pretty. The way her hair swished when she laughed mesmerised him. Her laugh captivated him.

He listened to her musical voice as she spoke with Al. Maybe, now the world was safe, he could leave the army and live a normal life. Maybe he and Al could travel the world and learn about different types of alchemy. Or maybe they could settle down and start families. Ed really didn't know which path he wanted to follow. He hated being a dog of the military but it gave them access to restricted research materials. He didn't really know what he would do with a family but he knew he wanted to learn about the Xing form of alchemy.

He would probably end up traveling with Alphonse all over the place. He didn't know what would happen to Winry but, he assumed she would go back to Granny's or to Rush Valley. He and Al would carry on studying alchemy like they had all their lives. It was really their lives.

Al said something to Winry and that seemed to bring her out of her conversation with Al. She swivelled around to face Edward. He smiled at her smiling face.

"So, do you want me to look at your leg or not?" she asked. Ed nodded. He stood, picked up the chair and moved it closer to the others as Winry jumped off the bed and grabbed her tool box. Ed sat back down and rested his automail leg on another chair as Winry pulled out her apron and tied it around her waist. Ed stared at her ass the whole time, managing to look away when she turned round. No one caught him, no one except Al.

XxXXxX

Winry tightened the last screw on Ed's leg. He needed a new one, but the best she could do with what she had was to make it a little longer by editing the suspension. It would be more likely to break now but it would be easier for him to walk on. As soon as Alphonse was up to traveling, they were going to Resembool so she could make him a new leg.

She sighed and stood, up stretching of the stiffness in her legs. Ed sighed and did the same.

"So, Winry, where are you staying tonight?" Ed asked, generally concerned.

"Don't know yet. I got to find a place." She said with a smile.

"Okay," Ed turned to Al. "I'm going to go to the hotel tonight. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay brother," Al replied happily. Ed sighed and headed over to the door. Winry waved good-bye to Alphonse and picked up her tool box.

"Here," Ed said, getting in her way. He picked it up himself and slung it over his shoulder. He smiled at her. His smile stopped her breath. "Let's find you a hotel room." AS he spoke, Edward offered Winry his hand. She took it and let him pull her through the door. Armstrong had left while they were in the room, but Hawkeye still remained. She followed them to the car. Ed opened the door for Winry and put her tool kit in before climbing in himself. Riza climbed into the driver's seat and the took off, away from the hospital and towards the hotel.


	3. Forwards

**Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, manga or either anime. **

**A/N: I'm making up the plot line as I go. I found that if I plan one, it goes horribly wrong so, yeah. Anyway, please review and bear with me and all the crap writing I do. And I know the characters are kind of OOC here. XD sorry! And sorry its short!**

XxXXxX

Winry looked at the ceiling of her hotel room, studying the non-existent patterns, committing them to memory. What was she doing? She was thinking. Al, oh Alphonse, led there, purely skin and bones, looking like death itself. She had wanted to say something –anything- that would make in better, heal him instantly. But she couldn't. She couldn't fix him, like she could fix Ed and his Automail. She couldn't help them the way she wanted to. She wanted to wipe the memories of the past away and replace the pain and hate and suffering with love and joy and happiness. She wanted to take the pictures of grimaces and echoing sounds of Edwards screams of pain and replace them with smiles and the continuous sound of joyous laughter.

Edward, he had suffered so much. But he still kept pushing on; suffering more; hurting more; never giving up. He didn't seem to care how much he bleed, how much he had to scream. He didn't care if he died as long as the ones he loved lived on. Didn't he realise that for them to live, he need to? He wanted peace and would do anything to get it. He would protect the innocent no matter what the price, for what price could be greater than the Truth.

But, as selfish as it was when she knew the reasons why, Winry wanted him to give it up and come back to Resembool with her. She wanted him to be safe with her and Granny and everyone. She didn't want him to have to hurt anymore. She wanted him to be whole and safe. She wanted him to smile again. She wanted him to give up the title _Full Metal_. She wanted him.

Then she knew she had completely fallen for him. She didn't want to let go of him, now she had him. She didn't want to let fate, or the Gate take him. She wanted him, not anyone else. But what if he didn't want her? What if he liked someone else? She thought about all the women he must have met on his travels. Did he find someone else? Or had he been too focused on his mission to get Al back? What would he do know he had done it?

Winry groaned into her pillow, her brain on overdrive. She would never get to sleep if she couldn't get Ed out of her head. But, why was she thinking of Ed, when she should be worrying about Al? Al was in hospital, half dead and she was worrying about Edward and the past. What was it Ed always said?

"You can't move back, so you got to keep moving forward. Use your legs and walk forwards, walk forwards."

That what he always said or something like that. Winry knew he always told people to walk forwards because they could. You couldn't let the past haunt your future. You had to keep it clear and move on. Winry know Ed would be pissed at her if he found out she had been dwelling in the past, and not looking to the future.

Winry groaned again and rolled over. Strategically, she began to clear her head. She forced thoughts of Edward or Alphonse or any other distraction out of her head and focused on the mechanics of an automail arm. She knew the equations and measurements off by heart, so running through them in her head was relaxing. Slowly, she felt herself drift into a weird, dreamy sleep.

XxXXxX

Edward Elric sat on his bed, thinking, staring at the wall. All his life, he had ignored his own pain and suffering and just fought on, fighting around everything, searching for the answers to the quest. Now his mission was over, what did he fight for? Should he look for another mission? Someone else to help? Or did he go back home? He didn't know, he just dint know.

He sighed and flopped back onto the bed, pushing his bangs out of his eyes. He hated not knowing where to go, who to go with. He knew Al would want to settle down now he had his body back, but Ed didn't think he would ever be able to. He had never really found a place that felt like home, not even in Resembool.

Yes, he had lived in the small village with his mother and his family lived there, but he had never really felt like he belonged there, and he could never figure out why. He grunted and rolled of the bed, choosing to pace around the room. Should he settle down with Al or should he stay with the army and travel. He still had his watch. As much as he hated it, he couldn't picture being without it. But if he stayed with the military, he would never be able to find he place. It would be harder to get to Resembool to visit Al and Winry. Winry…

He had fallen for her. He had known that she had his heart for a while, but he still didn't know how to tell her. Did he just say it, or did he do something special? He should ask Al. Al was good with things like romance and stuff like that. But Al was in hospital and not in the room next door.

No, in the room next door was the reason for all his confusion. Winry was behind the thin wall that was so easily removed. Through the flawed stone wall, he heard her sigh, which had him wondering about what she was thinking about. Was it possible that she could be thinking about him? No, she probably didn't share his feeling. But, what if she did? He couldn't get the '_what if's_' out of his head. _What if_ this and _what if_ that. What did he do if she felt the same? What did he do if she didn't?

Ed had always taken careless risks, but none of them had ever cost him what this decision could. Maybe he should take his own advice and just keep walking forward, against the problems.

Yeah, that sounded like a good idea to him. One step at a time. One day at a time. Stop charging ahead and just pace himself. That's what he needed to do. With a sigh, he flopped back onto the bed and picked up the alchemy book on the table at the side of his bed.

Slowly, he began to read from where he had left off, losing himself in equations, diagrams and explanations. His body relaxed and his mind forgot its troubles and set itself to working out how some alchemic technique worked.

XxXXxX

The sun was rising, shining its rays above the horizon. Al sighed. Soon Edward and Winry would return. He liked seeing his friend and brother, but it made him tired. He didn't have that much energy and it took all he did have away, but it was worth it.

He could wait for his strength to resume and then he would be able to have fun with the others. He wanted to settle down and have a family, but he knew Ed wouldn't be able to that. Ed would want to keep traveling, but would his brother be able to let him go? Ed was always over protective.

He figured he could always make Ed move one, but he didn't like the idea. He could always use his brother's affection for Winry. That was a good idea, if a wrench to the head sounded like a treat. Maybe he should find another way, but what? Maybe he could prompt Winry towards Ed's affections. But his brother didn't know he knew of his affections.

Al groaned and rubbed his head. How his brother made plans, he didn't know. It always gave him a head ache. Maybe, he should take a leaf out of Ed's book and just keep moving forward. After all, he had the legs to do it now, thanks to Ed.

He smiled to himself. No, he would do what he did best, and that was mess with Ed secretly, while caring about him. He would try and set Ed up with Winry, if he could. He could always use his weakened state to get away from the wrath of the wrench holder.

He sighed and sat back, waiting for his brother and their friend to come. Today, they didn't need to worry. He would use the day to plan. But tomorrow, he would begin.


	4. Questions

**Disclaimer: Don't own Full Metal Alchemist. Don't bother to sue. **

**A/N: Sorry it took so long. I keep getting ideas, but the moment I try to write them down I forget them… So that's not really a good excuse. Sorry! And I am also sorry it's so short. Please review. I really don't care if you flame it. just say something about it!**

Winry smiled at him and he forced a smile back in her direction. His plan, the one he had been using for a week, was falling down around him. If they weren't in the same town, if they weren't in the same state, if they were on different sides of the country, how was he supposed to set them up? Quickly, he began to rethink everything, desperately trying to come up with a new plan. But, try as he might, he couldn't come up with anything now. How? How could this be happening? How could this be happening to him? It wasn't meant to go this way! They should both be traveling with him, not going in different directions. He always got what he wanted. Why did his luck have to fail him now? _Damn! Damn! Damn!_ He thought.

"Hey," Ed spoke. "Are you sure you're okay with his?"

Alphonse smiled back at his brother, telling him he didn't mind at all, even though it was extremely untrue. His plan to set Edward up with Winry was disintegrating in his hands. He had just been informed of the plan _they_ had come up with. The one that had been created a few days ago but no one had bothered to tell him about, until now. His brother was staying in Central while he was heading back to Resembool, in the east, with Winry…tomorrow. He was furious, but he was determined to keep that bit a secret. If they realised something was up, he would never get away with anything ever again.

_Plan A is dead,_ Alphonse thought. _Time to create a Plan B_, he decided.

Alphonse sat up and listen to the radio, ignoring his brothers muttered apologises about not mentioning things sooner, until he heard a clanking sound. Ed paled and Al smiled. Revenge was _so_ sweet…

Edward Elric held his breath as Winry disconnected the nerves to his automail leg. He grunted as she fully disconnected it from the port. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Al smile but he convinced himself he must have been imagining it. Al wouldn't smile at his pain. It wasn't like him.

Winry began working on his arm, checking the nerves and other bits. As she worked, Ed and Al chatted about alchemy and different types they would like to study, leaving her to her work. She smiled, glad to see them getting along. Before long, it got the point where she barely understood what they were saying. Even when they were younger, they would forget she was there and start talking about things she didn't understand. It used to annoy her to no end, but now they were older, it was one of the quirks she loved about them.

Throughout the rest of the day, she watched the brothers, particularly Edward, talk, laugh and enjoy the others company. She watched as they forgot the rest of the world and how they both got annoyed when reality caught up with them. Every time it did, she would laugh, they would glare and she would poke her tongue out.

Too soon, it was time for Edward and Winry to leave. As they walked back to the hotel, Ed thought about Al. He would be dismissed tomorrow. Then he would go back to Resembool with Winry and he would stay in Central and continue to work for the military. He hated to do this to Al, but he couldn't leave yet. There were a few things he had to finish before he could return home.

The walk back was slow to Winry. She wanted to talk to Ed but she knew he was thinking. She still had his arm, tucked up safe in her tool box. She would give it back to him later and they would talk. She needed to talk to him, to understand why he was staying, why he wasn't coming home.

They walked in silence, crossing the lobby of the hotel and straight to the stairs. They always took the stairs because there were always too many people in the elevator. When they came to their floor, Winry grabbed Ed's arm and dragged him over to her room. At his questioning look, she shook her head, a signal that she would explain once they were in the room. She unlocked her door, pulled Ed in, then closed and locked it.

"Why?" Ed asked.

"I need to refit your arm," she told him, tapping her tool box.

He paled slightly, sighed and started to remove his coat and jacket. Winry watched as him. Somewhere, in his journey to save his brother, he had grown up and gone from the annoying little brother-like boy she knew to a man she wanted to know. Tearing her eyes from him, she placed her tool box on the floor with a hollow clunk. Flipping open the catches, she opened the box and pulled out Ed's arm. She looked up at Ed, him sat there in his skin tight black tank top, his abs and chest clearly defined through the fabric.

Winry walked over to the bed and sat down next to him, examining the port and surrounding scar tissue. He was out growing his port. He would need complete surgery to replace the port, but it would have to wait until he came back to Resembool.

"You ready?" Winry asked.

Edward nodded, gritting his teeth. Winry lined up the nerves endings. When he nodded, she pushed the nerves in and connected them. He grunted but she ignored him and set about securing the arm. Silence settled around them as she secured the nerves and other parts.

"Are you alright?" Ed asked, finally breaking the awkward silence and turning towards Winry.

Winry sighed and chose her words carefully before looking at Ed and replying. "I'm confused."

"About what?" 

"About you choosing to stay in the army."

"I don't want to talk about it." Ed said, turning away from Winry and her work. Slowly, she put down her tools, grabbed his chin and turned him to face her.

"Please tell me Ed. I'm sick of you hiding everything from me. Tell me." Winry said, looking into his eyes.

Ed looked into her eyes. He closed his and took a deep breath in, centring himself. Winry waited in silence as he got control of himself. She let go of his chin, watching his face become neutral. He turned away from her, to face the door. He opened his eyes slowly and stared at the door, his face blank of all emotion.

"okay. I'll tell you. . . "


	5. Three Little Words

**Disclaimer: Not owned by moi. All rights go to a rich person!**

**A/N: Please bear with me if this chapter is really rubbish. I'm trying and I apologise for OOC-ness now, from now and before now. Now, this chapter is supposed to be really depressing but it's hopefully going to be a one off. Sorry people! And sorry it's mind of short again! **

**THIS CHAPTER IS RATED M! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

"It was about three months ago. I was doing a mission for the military. I was supposed to be finding out about a local man with too much money and to many military connections. The Führer wanted to know why he was so interested. So I was sent to some small town in the middle of nowhere.

"Al and I started by talking to the local people. No one had anything bad to say about him. He was a doctor who saw anyone and everyone. He helped you if you needed it and that was that. He didn't ask questions or ask for money when he knew you didn't have it. All anyone could say about him was that he was a nice, honest man with a kind heart. It was annoying getting the same story from everyone.

"When we came to his house, he welcomed us with open arms. We spoke to him, explaining why we were there. He said he would be happy to prove to the Fuhrer that he could be trusted. He gave us access to all his file and equipment. He even offered to let us stay with him, instead of at the little hotel in the town centre. Al and I declined. We headed back to our hotel room with some of his files we were borrowing to study. After an hour reading his files, I came across something I had never heard of. I left Al in the room, to look at the other files and took all the ones mentioning the thing with me to the library.

"When I got there, I pulled down every medical book in the building. I spent the night looking through them. I must have written hundreds of notes and cross referenced a million things. As I worked my way through the files, I came to one about financing a project on the thing. By then I'd worked out it was a poison of some kind. I was reading the file when I came across a few inconsistencies. I was cross referencing them with the military records when I discovered that the Fuhrer was financing the whole project with the military's money. As I dug deeper into the project I came across a file saying the poison needed to be tested across a range of people, people from every corner of the country.

"Now, the poison created the some side effects. They were almost identical to a rare disease that often struck in small towns. There was only one real difference. One of the symptoms of the disease was a rash across the whole body. The poison didn't produce this rash. The idea was that people would mistake the poison for the disease, but they didn't know how to make the poison give the person a rash.

"That was one of the reasons to test it, to see if people would still make the mistake. Another reason was to check that it worked. The Fuhrer didn't believe that it would work the way the doctor said it would. So samples were given to ten unknowing people. Each was given a small amount of poison without ever being told what was happening. After this, they were watched until they died.

"I was digging through the file on the tests, horrified by it when I came to a list of who the ten subjects were. They were listed alphabetically. The first name on that list read Elric, Trisha. My mother didn't die of some rare disease. She was poisoned by the corrupt Fuhrer."

Edward Elric told his story with a blank look on his face and no emotion in his voice. The whole time, he stared straight ahead of him, refusing to meet the eyes of the girl listening. But as he came to the end of the tail, he could stop the stray tear that escaped his eye and rolled down his cheek. Now, he turned to her, meeting her crystal blue eyes. The rage and determination she saw in his golden eyes scared her and made it impossible for her to look away.

"That's why I have to stay in the military. I need to see the bastard Mustang become Fuhrer because I know he would never do something like that. I know he would never hurt people like that. But I know there are people who want to kill him. I have to protect him so he can become Fuhrer and protect people."

Winry looked into tear-filled, liquid amber eyes and saw, for the first time, who Edward Elric really was. He was a boy who had been forced to become a man and grow up by a corrupt military's secret. He had had to take care of his brother and support them both after he had made a mistake which the same, corrupt military had taken advantage of. He was a rare person and one she didn't want to lose. That was the moment Winry Rockbell realised just how badly she had fallen in love with the man before her. Without thinking about her actions, she leant forward and wrapped her arms around Ed's neck.

"It's okay to cry," She whispered in his ear.

Edward Elric sat in shock for a moment before wrapping his arms around Winry's waist and crying onto her shoulder. Winry sat with him, holding him and whispering that it would be alright as he let go of all the pain he had held inside for so long. For the first time since his mother had died, Edward Elric cried with all his heart. For the first time in a long time, he truly cried.

He cried for every time he had failed to get Al's body back. He cried for every life that the journey had cost. He cried for everyone who had been killed or hurt by the corrupt Fuhrer Bradley, the homunculus. He cried for all those whose lives had been hurt by anything or anyone. But most of all, he cried for his mother and the truth of her death, or his brother who he could never tell the truth to. He knew the truth would tear al apart. It would destroy him. And, as much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, Edward needed his brother's optimistic view on life to survive.

He cried for everything he could think, sitting there. He cried and waited for his eyes to run dry and the stains to dry on his cheeks. He waited for the pain he felt to run way with his tears. He waited for it all to end.

It was midnight when it stopped. He closed his eyes and stayed where he was. He wanted to close his eyes forever and lock out everything, but he knew he couldn't. right then, he just wanted to stay where he was. He felt safe with Winry's arms wrapped around him, as if she could shield him from the pain in his heart. There in her arms, he realised just how much she meant to him and how much he loved her.

Regretfully, he pulled his head from her shoulder and opened his eyes so he could look into her stunning, clear blue eyes. She looked back into his liquid amber ones. Their eyes portrayed the same emotions; love and hate, joy and sadness, faith and broken trust.

Neither of them considered the consequences as they leant towards each other. Their lips meet, gently brushing together. Sparks flew in both their minds as they deepened the kiss. Their lips parted and their tongues fought for dominance. When they pulled their lips apart for air, the words that had been unsaid for so long came out. In unison, they muttered three little words filled with unspoken promises, three little words that lead to a night of pure love and passion.

"I love you."


	6. Train

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Never will.**

**And, yes I am a horrid person for not updating but I ran out of ideas and had exams. Yes, I suck and you are free to kill me. Sorry! and on with the story!**

Groggily, Edward Elric opened his eyes. He couldn't remember much of the night before but he felt an unusual weight on his chest. He looked down to find his arms wrapped around a feminine torso with its unconscious head resting on him. At the sight of Winry's long blond hair, the foggy memories of the night became as clear as crystal. Several little kisses and a few well-chosen words had made everything so much easier. They had been able to laugh and cuddle and simply have fun with out the tenseness that had been balanced between them for so long.

Surprisingly, that was all they had done through the dark. Talked and laughed and just been there for one another. In the end, that's all they had needed, each other. And now, running his fingers through her silky hair, it was all he needed again. He didn't want to be with her when she would leave that day. That would be wrong and Granny and Trisha had raised him better than that. But, secretly, he hoped she would wait for him. He hoped she would wait for him to finish with the army and come back to her.

Thinking of the future reminded him of today. Later, in the afternoon, she and Al would leave to return to Resembool. Cautiously, so as not to wake the blond, he shifted his way out from underneath her. He stretched and made his way over to the bathroom, the dull thuds of his automail echoing around the silent room. He closed the door, praying the quiet click of the door wouldn't wake the sleeping mechanic. He turned on the shower, giving the water time to warm as he took a leak and stripped. Yawning, he climbed under the warm water, letting it rush through his hair.

Winry woke to the sound of running water. She yawned and sat up in the bed, remembering the night's events very clearly. She smiled slightly, grabbed Ed's room key and snuck into his room to grab him some cloths for when he came out of the shower. As she opened the door, she thought about how forgetful he could be. Yes, he was intelligent but he forgot a surprising amount. She looked around the clean room as she walked over to the wardrobe. From inside, she pulled a pair of leather pants, a black tank top, a jacket and some underwear. Tiredly, she began to trudge back to the room.

She opened the door to reveal a half-naked Edward Elric. Winry smiled at him, his wet hair sticking to his back. She tossed his cloths at him, grabbed a set of her own and walked into the bath room to clean up herself.

Ed looked at the bathroom door, then down at the cloths in his arm before getting changed. Winry really did know him to well if she knew he would have forgotten to get cloths before showering. He through the jacket over with his coat and gathered up the dirty cloths he'd left outside the bathroom door. After ditching them in his suitcase, he sat down on the window-sill and started drying his hair with a towel.

Winry came out the bathroom, dressed and drying her hair with a towel. She smiled at the image that awaited her. Ed was sat on the window-sill, his hair braided and his little black alchemy book in his hands. As always, he was lost in his research. There was a light smile on his lips and his eyes were skimming the pages at speed she couldn't muster. She watched him for a few seconds, moved to the table and began pulling her hair into a high pony tail. She ran her fingers though her bangs, pulling them off her still-slightly-wet hair and back over her face.

She smiled as his smile turned into a frown. He started running his fingers around, feeling for a pen without taking his eyes from the book. Walking forward, she picked on off the table, putting her hairbrush in its place, and fed it to his fingers. His gaze flicked over to her, his lips muttered 'thanks' as he corrected whatever had caused him to frown. He sighed, closed the book and lay the pen down on top of it, in his lap. Turning his gaze to her, he smiled.

"Moring'," she whispered.

"Hey," he smiled back. He turned, looking out the window. "Have you got everything ready?" he asked with sadness in his voice.

"I think so," she turned from him. "I think it's just Alphonse's stuff now."

"No, it's all ready," Ed whispered, turning back to Winry with sad eyes.

She nodded. "Shall we go then?" she asked.

Sighing, he pushed himself off the window-sill, nodding. Winry started getting her suitcase and other things together. Ed left the room, going into the one he and Al normally shared. He looked around the room quickly and silently, making sure only his things were left around. Once he was sure there was nothing of Al's on the floor, he opened his brother's suitcase, slid a piece of paper on top of his clothes, and closed it again. He locked it and thread some string through the hole at the top of the key, tying it to make a necklace he would give to his brother.

Silently, he pushed his brother out of the hospital, Winry walking by his side. With her help, they managed to life Alphonse into the back of Roy Mustang's car. Winry thanked him for helping her in, next to him, before he climbed into the front next to his commanding officer.

He was numb, standing next to his commanding officer, waving his brother and the love of his life off as they headed home. He wished he was next to them, traveling back to Granny and the shop and everything he knew and loved. But, he knew he couldn't. He had a job to do.

The fire was back and he was ready to fight. He was going to find out who had poisoned his mother. He was going to find the antidote before it took his life. His mind set and determination in his eyes, he turned back to Brigadier General Mustang.

"Tell me everything, now."

"First," Mustang spoke softly. "I want to know why."


End file.
